Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $64.54 and last traded at $64.5640, with a volume of 25968 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SFST. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.55. The stock has a market cap of $611.45 million, a PE ratio of 13.85 and a beta of 0.68.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 16.78%.The firm had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.30 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Southern First Bancshares

In other Southern First Bancshares news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total value of $46,359.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,073,329. This trade represents a 1.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,998,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 215.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 50,451 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,599,000 after purchasing an additional 34,466 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 150,607 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,208,000 after buying an additional 22,700 shares during the last quarter. Informed Momentum Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $1,106,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 147.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,706 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,891,000 after buying an additional 20,673 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Company Profile

Southern First Bancshares is the bank holding company for Southern First Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company delivers a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses, professionals, and individual customers. Southern First Bancshares operates under a relationship-driven model, emphasizing personalized service and local decision–making.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside an array of lending solutions covering commercial real estate, construction, equipment financing and small business administration (SBA) loans.